Implement for applying flase eyelashes to a human eyelid

ABSTRACT

A false-eyelash applicator constituting a pair of substantially parallel elongated shanks integral with a pair of elongated tips, at least one tip is flexible and the tips are at such angles with respect to their associated shanks that when the shanks are manipulated to force the tips into contact with one another, the tips engage on opposite sides of a plane which is at an angle to the plane between the shanks.

United States Patent [72) Inventor Jon O'Connell 56] A References Cited12 East 22nd St., New York. NY. 10010 UNITED STATES PATENTS I211 Q J 1 21.615.125 1/1927 Lespinasse...... 128/321 ii f d i l,666,ll6 4/1928Bunnell 132/1 1 1 e 3,461,886 8/1969 Bau. l32/88.7 3,478,754 I 1/1969Martin Jr 132/] Primary ExaminerL0uis G. Mancene AssistantExaminerGregory E. McNeill AttorneyKirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger &Frank [54] IMPLEMENT FOR APPLYING FALSE EYELASHES gj ABSTRACT: Afalse-eyelash applicator constituting a pair of rawmg substantiallyparallel elongated shanks integral with a pair of [52] U5. 132/1,elongated tips, at least one tip is flexible and the tips are atl32/88.7 such angles with respect to their associated shanks that when[51] lint. Cl A45d 44/00 the shanks are manipulated to force the tipsinto contact with [50] Field at Search 132/1, 32.1, one another, thetips engage on opposite sides of a plane 148, 79, 88.7; 128/321, 354;294/(lnquired) which is at an angle to the plane between the shanks.

PATENTEDFEB 9197: V I 3561.454

INVI'IN'I'OR.

FIG 7 JON O'CONNELL .4244; A M; w y ial.

ATTORNEYS IMPLEMENT FOR APPLYING FALSE EYELASHES TO A HUMAN EYELIDBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 l. Field of the Invention An applicatorfor false eyelashes.

2. Description of the Prior Art A feminine cosmetic adjunct that iscoming into increas- 1 ingly great use is the artificial eyelash whichoriginally was employed principally by show people only, to create amore natural appearance when viewed from a distance with stage lightingcast on them. The lighting was so intense and the distance from whichthey were viewed was so great that the 1 delicate strands of a naturallash became almost invisible, hence, the necessity for the artificiallash. However, with the passage of years, and more so at the presenttime, feminine makeup demands have been increasingly emphasizing theutilization of false eyelashes to make up for the sparseness of 0 manynatural lashes, to provide a dark lash where the natural lash may be toolight, to provide a longer lash where the natural lash may be too short,to avoid the necessity of using mascara and generally because with theincreasing use of such adjunct, false eyelashes have become a more orless accepted standard of everyday feminine decor.

Essentially, a false eyelash consists of a flexible spine from whichstrands of natural or synthetic hair extend, an end of each strand beingsuitably secured in any of various manners to the spine. Usually, thespine, as supplied to retail outlets, has a curvature imparted theretowhich roughly approximates the curvature of a human eyelid. Obviously,the curvatures of various eyelids are not identical so that, at best,the curvature of the spine is in approximation and, indeed, thecurvature of the spine at the retail outlet generally is of a radiussomewhat greater than any radius of curvature likely to be found in aneyelid so that, customarily, this radius of curvature of the spine mustbe reduced during the application of the spine to a human eyelid abovethe natural lashes. The spine is supplied with an adhesive coating,usually a pressure sensitive adhesive coating, which enables it to beadhered to an eyelid immediately above the lash line. In addition,adhesive fluids are available to apply to the spine when the initialadhesive becomes ineffective.

The basic problem with false eyelashes is that they are difficult toapply. One method of applying them is with the use of an individualsfingers. To do this, the individual closes the eyelid of her eye onwhich the eyelash is to be applied, looks into a mirror with her othereye and with her hands attempts to place the adhesive side of the spinealong her eyelid immediately above the free edge of the eyelid which isimmediately above her natural lashes. This operation is actually quitedifficult to practice. One of the greatest difficulties is due to themonocular vision involved during the application of the false lash. Asis well known, monocular vision creates an inaccurate perception ofdepth. The individual cannot tell exactly where her hand is, or wherethe artificial lash gripped by her hand is, in relation to her eyelid ina front to back direction, this, despite the fact that she is lookinginto a mirror. The difiiculty of emplacement is enhanced by the factthat the curvature of the spine exceeds the curvature of her closedeyelid. Sometimes, she will place the center of the artificial lash atthe center of her eyelid immediately above the natural eyelash and thentry to force, first one side and then the other of the false eyelash upagainst her eyelid-at all times her accuracy of manipulation beinglessened by her lack of accurate depth perception.

Frequently, the spine slips vertically and will tend to adhere to theeyelid in an improper vertical location. At other times she will touchan end of the spine near an end of her eyelid and gradually try to workher hands along the false eyelash and spine to successively presssucceeding increments of the spine against her eyelid. Here too, she ishampered by her inaccurate perception of depth which frequently causesthe spine to move up and down as it it being adhered to the lid. Theresults of a hasty application are almost ludicrous so that it is notuncommon to see a woman who is attempting to apply a false lash, rip thelash off time after time until she arrives at an application which,although not perfect, is to her then presently disgusted frame of mindsufficiently good to leave alone.

Recognizing the extreme difficulty of manual manipulation, it has beenproposed to utilize implements to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks. Oneimplement is an ordinary pair of tweezers which is essentially the sameas a pair of hair removal tweezers. Sometimes such tweezers havesomewhat flattened tips to increase their area of engagement with thefalse eyelash strands. To use these tweezers, a person manipulates thetweezers in such a fashion that the tips of the tweezers point directlytoward the false eyelash parallel to the strands. The shanks of thetweezers are linear extensions of the tips and the shanks, therefore,likewise point parallel to the false eyelash strands. Then, the useronce again looks into a mirror with the eyelid closed on the eye towhich the false eyelash is to be applied so that she is confronted withthe difiiculty of monocular vision and its attendant disadvantage. Theuser will either apply the center or an end of the adhesive spine to theclosed eyelid and then with her fingers attempt to force the rest of thespine into contact with the eyelid to which it hopefully adheres withsufficient force. The user will not customarily use the tweezers toforce successive parts of the false eyelash against her eyelid becauseof fear of injuring her eye, inasmuch as the tips of the tweezers arepointed directly at the eye covered by the closed eyelid. This mode ofapplication has been frowned upon and not widely used due to its.inherent disadvantages above noted.

It also has been proposed to supply a pair of tweezers with tips in theform of arcuate jaws which present a concave edge toward the falseeyelash strands to be engaged thereby. The planes of the arcuate jawswere coincidental with the planes of the shanks of the tweezer withwhich they were unitary. Such a modified form of tweezer was better inthat is obtained a firm grip on the false eyelash strands. Nevertheless,it still did not prove to be a practical instrument for several reasons,among which were the fact that it necessitated the use of monocularvision during application of the false eyelash and the fact that ittended, during handling, to immobilize the curvature of the spine sothat, remembering that the natural curvature of the spine did not matchthe curvature of most eyelids, the curved state of the spine held bysuch tweezers did not correspond to the curvature of the eyelid and itwas still necessary to manually urge parts of the spine against theeyelid. A tweezer with these arcuate jaws was not useful "for thissubsequent urging step during which the spine had to be conformed to theeyelid curvature.

Ancillary disadvantages of the both aforementioned tweezers were thatthey did not obtain a good grip on the lashes and that if too great aforce were exerted on the shanks to improve the grip, the tips or jawsof the tweezers tended to impart an angulation or a crimp to the strandsof the false eyelash.

Accordingly, the present state of the art is such that there still is nogood implement for convenient application of false eyelashes to a humaneyelid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide animplement for applying a false eyelash to a human eyelid which implementavoids all of the foregoing drawbacks.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described which is so constructed as to permit binocularvision during application of a false eyelash, in other words animplement which is so constructed as to encourage stereoscopic viewingof the eyelash during its application whereby the user will have anaccurate depth vision throughout the installation process.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described which is so constructed that it minimizes the dangerof pushing the tip of the implement against the eye inasmuch as theconstruction discourages handling of the implement in such a manner thatthe tip is directed toward the eye, rather the manipulation which isencouraged by such construction is one in which the tip is tangential tothe eye.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described which inherently will hold several strands of theeyelash rather than just a few so that better control of the eyelash canbe maintained during its period of application.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described which is of such construction that it can be readilymanipulated to force against an eyelid those parts of the spine of thefalse eyelash which were not initially pressed against the eyelid duringthe period when the strands of the false eyelash were firmly grippedbetween the tips of the implement.

It is an ancillary object of the invention to provide an implement ofthe character described having a structure such that even when the tipsof the implement forcefully squeeze the strands of the false eyelash,there is no tendency to impart an angular set or crimp to said strands.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described through whose use women who have little manualdexterity can quickly, accurately and nicely emplace false eyelashes ontheir eyelids.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described through the use of which the entire length of thespine can be firmly adhered to an eyelid so that during an evening thereis little chance of a part, for instance an end, of a false eyelashbecoming unanchored and springing away from the eyelid in which positionit will lend a ludicrous appearance to the wearer.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described which constitutes relatively few and simple parts,is capable of mass production and can be manufactured at a low cost.

It is another object of the invention to provide an implement of thecharacter described, the use of which is immediately obvious upon mereinspection of the implement so that no elaborate set of instructions ortraining is necessary.

Other objects of the invention in part will be obvious and in part willbe pointed out hereinafter.

In general, the implement constitutes a pair of shanks and a pair ofjaws unitary with the shanks together with means for manipulating theshanks so as to force the tips of the jaws against one another, the tipsin such position clamping many strands of a false eyelash between them.The implement is characterized by the fact that at least one of the tipsis flexible and that the tips are disposed at such angle to the shanksthat when the tips are moved into engagement by manipulation of theshanks, the tips will close upon opposite sides of a plane which is atan angle to the plane between the shanks. This in contradistinction toan implement wherein shanks have jaws, the tips of which close uponmanipulation of the shanks, the jaws being at such angles with respectto the shanks that the tips, when closed, close upon opposite sides of aplane which is coplanar with the plane between the jaws. It is thisspecial angulation of the tips of the new implement which permit its usein a fashion such that the jaws are tangential to an eyelid to which afalse eyelash is being applied and further causes the implement to beout of the line of vision of the user so that the implement can beemployed for its intended purpose with both eyelids raised so as topermit the user to enjoy binocular vision and accurate depth perceptionduring the installation of the false eyelash.

The invention consists in the features of construction, combinations ofelements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in theimplements hereinafter described and of which the scope of applicationwill be indicated in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES In the accompanying drawings in which areshown various possible embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the manner of use of the newapplicator;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section through a pair of tips of an applica' torembodying a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing another modified form of thetip construction;

FIG. 5 is a side, partially sectioned, enlarged view of the applicatorshown in FIG. I, the shanks and jaws of the applicator being shown insolid lines in open position and one of the shanks and the associatedjaw being shown in dot-and-dash lines in closed position;

FIG. 6 is a side, axial sectional view of another modified form ofapplicator, the solid lines indicating the open position of the jaws andshank and the dot-and-dash lines illustrating the closed position of oneof the jaws and its associated shank; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal view of still another modified formof applicator wherein the modification resides in a different structureof the means for closing of the shanks and jaws.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Referring now In detail to theFIGS., and, more particularly, to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the referencenumeral [0 denotes an applicator constituting a preferred embodiment ofthe invention. The applicator includes (see FIG. 5) a handle 12 in theshape of an elongated cylindrical hollow tube having an open front end14 which, for the sake of appearance, may be beveled, and a rear closedend 16 which, again for the sake of appearance, may be rounded. Thehandle can be made of any self-form-maintaining material, e.g., metal orplastic.

The handle mountsa pair of shanks 18, 20, the shank 18 being fixed tothe handle and the shank 20 being slidable with respect to the handle.The shanks 1 8, 20 likewise may be made from any self-form-maintainingmaterial, the material employed being one which when sufficiently thinis flexible and resilient. Satisfactory materials are metal and plastic.The shank 18 includes a portion which extends deeply into the tubularhandle and is fixed rigidly thereto. The shank 20 likewise includes aportion which extends well into the handle; however, this portion isslidable relative to the handle. The shanks are elongated and their axesof elongation are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle. Asillustrated, the shanks are of semicircular cross section, the crosssections of the two shanks meeting adjacent and in the handle to form acomplete circle. The flats of the semicircular cross sections are inplanar juxtaposition and the movable shank 20 has its flat in bearingengagement against the corresponding flat of the fixed shank l8.

The movable shank 20 has secured thereto a manipulating knob 22 which iscarried by that portion of the shank 20 which is disposed within thetubular handle 12. The knob 20 is located within a cutout or slot 24fonned in the handle to permit the knob 22 to protrude therethrough forconvenient manipulation of the shank whereby by having a finger engagedon the knob 22, the shank 20 can be shifted axially so as to movelongitudinally with respect to the fixed shank 18. The foregoingarrangement constitutes a means for causing relative movement of the twoshanks and, as soon will be seen, relative movement of the jaws and tipsof the shanks into and out of mutual interenga gement. The forward andrear edges of the slot 24 constitute stop means for abutment of the knobthereagainst to delimit movement of the shank 20 between aforemostextended position shown in full lines in FIG. 5 and a rearmost retractedposition shown in dot-and-dash lines in the same FIG.

To enhance flexibility of the shanks, although this is not necessary,and particularly to enhance flexibility of the for ward portions of theshanks, these forward portions may be of gradually diminishing thicknessin a direction perpendicular to the flats. The same can be accomplishedby flaring the flats slightly away from one another as clearly indicatedin FIG. 5.

Each shank carries a different jaw 26, 28, the jaw being stationary andthe jaw 28 being movable. It is a characteristic of the invention thatthe jaws are at angles to their affiliated shanks. The angulation isspecial. Specifically the orientation, i.e., the plane of theangulation, is a feature of the present invention. The angulation issuch that when the jaws are moved into engagement by manipulation of theshanks they close upon opposite sides of a plane which forms adihedralangle with the plane between the shanks. This is to becontrasted, for instance, to a construction wherein the jaws close uponone another on opposite sides ofa plane which is parallel to or coplanarwith the plane between the shanks, even if the tips happen to be angledin or parallel to such a plane or planes. The degree of angulation, asdistinguished from the presence of a dihedral plane between the jaws andshanks is of minor importance. Both jaws may be at the same angle totheir shanks; but in the preferred form of the invention the anglesbetween the jaws and shanks are almost but not quite the same.Specifically, the jaw 26 is at an angle of 29 to the lo'n gitudinal axisof the shank l8 and the jaw 28 is at an angle of 32 to the longitudinalaxis of the shank 20. Hence, the two jaws converge slightly toward oneanother in a direction toward their tips. Typically theangle ofconveyance is about 1 to about 5.

The thickness of the jaws, as seen in FIG. 5, tapers from the shankstoward the tips so as to enhance flexibility of the tips. Moreover, thewidth of the jaws tapers from the shanks toward the tips as can be seenin FIG. 1 to further enhance flexibility of the tips. Neither of thesetaperings is critical.

At least one of the jaws must be flexible in order that when the jaws,which converge toward one another toward their tips, are brought intomutual engagement by manipulation of the shanks the jaws can bendsufficiently for the engaged parts to flex into parallelism as shown indot-and-dash lines in FIG. 5 whereby to assure a substantial area ofgripping. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention both jaws areflexible.

In the operation of the applicator 10 the knob 32 is manipulated tothrust the shank forward so as to separate the jaws 26, 28 as shown insolid lines in FIG. 5, then the opened jaws are approached to anartificial eyelash, preferably to the center of the eyelash. Theapplicator is so positioned with respect to the artificial eyelash,which at this time may be in a carrier box, that the jaws extend in aline perpendicular to the central lashes and are located near the tipsof these strands or about midway of the lengths of the strands.

Because the spine of the artificial eyelash is curved the jaws willextend over many of the strands of the eyelash but less than all,specifically over the central strands but not over the endmost strandsso that the endmost strands are left free of the applicator. Thislocation of the applicator with respect to the false eyelash is thepreferred mode of operation but is not to be construed as limitive ofthe invention.

Next, the applicator is manipulated so as to move the shanks in afashion such as to cause the jaws to mutually approach one another andthereby clamp the aforesaid strands of the eyelash, particularly at thecenter of the eyelash which they overlie. Thus, there is at this time afirm engagement between the applicator and the false eyelash.

Thereupon the eyelash can be lifted out of its carrier case. It will beunderstood, of course, that the applicator can be caused to engage thefalse eyelash even if it is not disposed within a carrier case.

It will be appreciated that with the applicator so grasping the falseeyelash, the plane defined by the longitudinal axes of the shanks andthe elongated jaws is perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of theeyelash strands. Hence the applicator extends laterally away from thefalse eyelash, that is to say, to the side of the false eyelash.Moreover, due to the angulation, the handle at this time is below thefalse eyelash if the eyelash is held horizontally with the handlegenerally disposed downwardly as shown in FIG. I.

Now the false eyelash is applied to an eyelid. Application of one of theeyelashes to one eyelid is illustrated in FIG. I. At this time, theapplicator is held in the right hand of the user and it is her lefteyelid to which the false eyelash in being applied. The shanks of theapplicator cross over the bridge of the user's nose at a rather highlevel depending, of course, upon the particular configuration of theusers face. However, the plane defined by the longitudinal axes of thejaws and shanks is roughly parallel to the front of the user's face.Hence, the entire applicator as well as the false eyelash about to beapplied is located out of the line of vision of the user who, at thistime, can have stereoscopic viewing and good depth perception of theapplicator and the eyelash applied by looking in a mirror. It will beseen from inspection of FIG. 1 and from an appreciation of theconstruction of the applicator that the shanks after crossing the bridgeof the user's nose descend down below the right eye so as to be out ofthe right eyes line of vision and that the jaws are above the openeyelid of the left eye to which the false eyelash is being applied sothat both eyes are free to look into the minor. The same will hold trueof application of a false eyelash to the right eye, except that there,of course, the shanks will not cross the bridge of the users nose.

The instrument is symmetrical so that a left handed woman can use it inthe same manner but with her left hand holding the handle.

The user with the applicator held as shown in FIG. 1 approaches thefalse eyelash, specifically the spine of the false eyelash, and evenmore specifically the pressure sensitive adhesive side of the spine, toher eyelid with the center of the spine at the center of her eyelid justabove her lash line. It will be seen that at this time the longitudinalaxes of the jaws are substantially tangential to her eyelid so that shewill not be afraid of touching her eye or eyelid with the somewhatnarrow tips of the jaws. She then presses the spine against her eyelid,actually the center of her eyelid, which will cause the spine to adhereat this area to the eyelid. Then she releases the false eyelash bymoving the knob 22 rearwardly of the handle. It will be noted that withthe specified degree of angulation the forearm and elbow of the userwill be naturally positioned and not give rise to muscular stress orfatigue.

Next, either with the jaws opened or with the jaws closed, by furthermanipulation of the knob 22, she approaches the manipulator to parts ofthe false eyelash between the now adhered center and the ends of theeyelash so as to press successive parts of the pressure sensitive areaof the spine against her eyelid. She continues to do this with theapplicator until the false eyelash adheres along its full length to theeyelid. It will be appreciated that she has not had to use her hands atall, although she can if she wishes, and that because of the uniqueconstruction of the applicator, particularly the special angulationabove referred to, the applicator will not interfere with her line ofvision while she is thus adhering the remainder of the eyelash to hereyelid. All in all, the operation is so rapid that it will beaccomplished in far less time than the reading of this segment of thisspecificaton.

For the purpose of identification, in FIG. 2 the strands of the falseeyelash have been denoted by the reference numeral 30, the spine by thereference numeral 32 and the adhesive coating by the reference numeral34. This FIG. also shows how the jaws of the applicator clamp thestrands between them.

If desired, the jaws 28 may be coated with a material which is softerthan the material of the jaws, such for instance as a thin coating 36(see FIG. 3) of rubber or polyvinyl chloride. This minimizes anycrimping or damage to the artificial strands 30 although there is verylittle danger of such damage because of the flexibility of the jaws 26,28.

Furthermore, if desired, and as illustrated in FIG. 4, the jaws 26, 28may have their confronting surfaces configured to minimize slippage ofthe jaws on an artificial eyelash when In the applicator described withrespect to FIG. 1 through 5, a specific means has been illustrated formanipulation of the shanks in a fashion 'such as to move the jaws intoand out of engagement with one another under control of the user of theapplicator. Alternate means can be employed for the same purpose, twoconstructions with different such means being disclosed in FIGS. 6 and7.

Referring to FIG. 6 the shank 18' which is made of metal has a portionthereof which is located internally of the handle 12' welded thereto. Aportion of the shank h ich extends within the handle 12 likewise iswelded to the interior of the handle. The welded portion of the shank20' is located deep within the handle so as to form a cantilever supportfor the shank 20'. The shank 20' has fixed thereto a button 40 whichextends through an opening 42 in the handle 12'. The shank 20' inreleased, i.e., idle, condition, occupies a position in which it pressesagainst an interior sidewall of the handle 12'. However, by pressing thebutton 40 inwardly to the dot-anddash line position, it will cause theflexible resilient shank 20' to swing toward the shank 18, as shown indot-and-dash lines, and this movement will close the jaw 28 'onto thejaw 26', as shown in dot-and-dash lines, for clamping engagement withthe strands of a false eyelash which thereupon will be manipu-v lated inthe fashion previously described.

In FIG. 7 both the flexible resilient shank 18" and the flexibleresilient shank 2 extend into the handle 12" where, as in the case ofthe shank 20 in FIG. 6, they are welded at their free ends deep withinthe handle so that each has a cantilever support permitting the shanksto be flexed away from idle position in which they are separated. Theshanks 18" and 20" are embraced near the handle 12" by a collar 44 whichis a snug slidable fit on the shanks. The portions of the shank somewhatforward of the handle flare outwardly at a small angle, as shown in FIG.7. Thereby when the collar is slid forwardly on the shanks it will causethe shanks to flex toward one another and this action will make the jaws(not shown) interengage as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

It thus will be seen that there are provided applicators which achievethe several objects of this invention and which are well adopted to meetthe conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention andas various changes might be made for the embodiments above set forth, itis to be understood that all matter described herein or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. An applicator for applying a false eyelash to a human eyelid in amanner such that vision of the user in both eyes is substantiallyunobstructed to permit the user to have stereoscopic vision and gooddepth perception during the application of the eyelash, said applicatorcomprising a pair of elongated straight flexible resilient coextensivemembers, means joining said members at one common pair of ends thereofto permit said members to be flexed toward one another from an idleposition in which they are separated, each of said members havingintegral therewith at the other end thereof an elongated flexibleresilient jaw which constitutes an extension of the member and whichtapers in width from the width of the member at said end to the tip ofthe jaw, said jaws being flat from side to side, each said jaw beingdisposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the member of which it is anextension, said jaws having facing surfaces of substantially matchingconfiguration whereby the same are approximately parallel in idleposition of the members, the jaws being spaced apart in idle position ofthe members, the longitudinal axes of one member and its associated awdefining one plane, the longitudinal axes of the other member and itsassociated jaw defining a second plane, said two planes beingcoincident, the central plane between the members and the central planebetween the jaws being inclined to one another at said obtuse angle, sothat when the jaws are moved into engagement with one another by manualmanipulation of the members, the tips of the jaws will close uponopposite sides of the common plane between the jaws to clamp the strandsof a false eyelash between them in order that the members, duringapplication of a false eyelash to an eyelid, will be in a planeperpendicular to the length of the false eyelash strands and out of theline of vision of the user, and the lengths of the jaws will betangential to the eyelid.

1. An applicator for applying a false eyelash to a human eyelid in amanner such that vision of the user in both eyes is substantiallyunobstructed to permit the user to have stereoscopic vision and gooddepth perception during the application of the eyelash, said applicatorcomprising a pair of elongated straight flexible resilient coextensivemembers, means joining said members at one common pair of ends thereofto permit said members to be flexed toward one another from an idleposition in which they are separated, each of said members havingintegral therewith at the other end thereof an elongated flexibleresilient jaw which constitutes an extension of the member and whichtapers in width from the width of the member at said end to the tip ofthe jaw, said jaws being flat from side to side, each said jaw beingdisposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the member of which it is anextension, said jaws having facing surfaces of substantially matchingconfiguration whereby the same are approximately parallel in idleposition of the members, the jaws being spaced apart in idle position ofthe members, the longitudinal axes of one member and its associated jawdefining one plane, the longitudinal axes of the other member and itsassociated jaw defining a second plane, said two planes beingcoincident, the central plane between the members and the central planebetween the jaws being inclined to one another at said obtuse angle, sothat when the jaws are moved into engagement with one another by manualmanipulation of the members, the tips of the jaws will close uponopposite sides of the common plane between the jaws to clamp the strandsof a false eyelash between them in order that the members, duringapplication of a false eyelash to an eyelid, will be in a planeperpendicular to the length of the false eyelash strands and out of theline of vision of the user, and the lengths of the jaws will betangential to the eyelid.